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Inside Nature’s Giants: Giant Squid

Thought by many to be the stuff of legend, it was only in the late-19th century that the giant squid was first officially recorded by scientists, after one leviathan washed up on a New Zealand beach. Related to slugs and snails, this monster from the deep, along with its cousin the colossal squid, is the largest invertebrate in the world. It's never been filmed in its natural habitat, thousands of feet underwater, but occasionally specimens are brought to the surface by deep-sea trawlers.

In Giant Squid, the team travels to New Zealand to join other experts to dissect a rare giant squid. They learn that it has a razor sharp beak, teeth on its tentacles and tongue, a throat that dives through the middle of its brain and three hearts that power blue blood through a muscle filled jet-propulsion cloak. The team piece together the puzzle of how giant squid hunt, how they jet through the water, how their quick-fire beak pulverizes food, why they have such enormous eyes and how they reproduce.